Top tips for living in the community

We are all members of the same community whether a student, a young family or a long term resident. It is important we are all considerate of each other to create a peaceful and orderly environment for us all to live.

Meeting your neighboursHere are some tips for living in the community:

  • Introduce yourself to your neighbours and build a positive relationship - this will make things easier for everyone.
  • Respect your neighbours, remember their living patterns are different to yours and be particularly sensitive when you live alongside young children.
  • Most student housing is terraced with adjoining walls, so noise travels. Try and remember this when you’re at home. Keep the music down and avoid loud conversations, shouting and slamming doors.
  • Position stereos, televisions and radios away from adjacent walls. Keep them off the ground so bass does not reverberate through the whole house.
  • When you come home at night do so quietly and keep your voices down, your neighbours might well be in bed.
  • Avoid offensive behaviour including shouting, swearing, drinking in the streets and tasteless notes or posters in your windows.
  • Don’t leave rubbish in the garden or outside your property. Ring the council who will come and remove it. Find out when your rubbish collection day is and bag up your rubbish properly.
  • Respect other peoples' property - fences, walls, street furniture and parked cars in particular. Causing damage to property is a criminal offence.
  • Take an interest and pride in where you live – it’s your home too!
  • Always have consideration for others when parking. Do not block roads, driveways or garage entrances and never park in bays marked ‘disabled’.
  • If you are having a party, let your neighbours know and stick to a finishing time and ask your guests to leave quietly. Try and only have house parties on a Friday and Saturday night when your neighbours might not have work the next day.
  • If a neighbour does complain – respond and take responsibility for your actions.

Students on their way to lectures

Are you noisy? During 2005/06 the out of hours noise service (at Southampton City Council) received 3,475 noise related complaints. Of these, 75 abatement notices were served. This resulted in 16 prosecutions in court and three seizures of noise-making equipment. Do not become one of these, keep the noise DOWN.

If you are a victim of noise nuisance, call 023 8083 2531 (office hours) or 023 8023 3344 (out of hours service).